Blast, a startup that lets gamers link their gaming activity to their bank accounts so they can save as they play, has boosted its seed funding round to $12 million.
Entrepreneur Tony Robbins, fintech fund CreditEase, and VC fund RX3 are among the new investors to pump $7 million into the firm, topping up a $5 million raise from March.
Led by Walter Cruttenden, who co-founded micro-investing app Acorns, Blast has built an app that provides a way to save money by playing mobile games, based on in-game triggers set by the user.
Once they have downloaded the app, users create an account and link their checking account to their Blast wallet. Gamers can then decide how much they want to save based on simple time triggers or more complex achievement triggers.
Blast then boosts the money gamers put aside because the funds are held in an FDIC-insured account earning 1% APY. Gamers can also receive dividends for missions and win weekly cash prizes if they come in the top 25% of the app's leaderboard - with first place receiving $1000.
The Android app works in the background of all mobile games in the Google Play Store and is also compatible with some PC games on the Steam marketplace with more to come. Blast has also started a waitlist for games on iOS, which launches in the autumn.
Blast says that it wants to make saving exciting for younger people. During an eight week beta period, the average user’s account was up more than seven per cent.
Says Cruttenden: "It’s tough for most people to save money, so we created Blast to help people start accumulating wealth simply by doing what they already enjoy - playing their favorite games...Gamers tell us they feel better with the time they spend gaming when they know they are micro-saving or micro-earning in the background."